The 11th Annual Persian Arts Festival will transport an audience of all ages into Spring as it connects elements from thousands of years of ritual and history to the magnificent art being made by today’s Iranian American artists.

Sahba Motallebi is a modern virtuoso of the tar and setar, an innovator in teaching Persian Music and has been recognized as the Best Tar Player at the Iranian Music Festival four years running (1995-1998) and “The Best Tar Player” at the Toronto Conservatory of Iran (1993 – 1996). She is recognized internationally as a master of tar and setar, lute-like stringed instruments central to one of the world’s great musical traditions. She began studying music as a young girl in Sari, a small seaside city in the north of Iran. In 1993, at the age of 14, her talent garnered her an invitation to begin studies at the Tehran Conservatory of Music. She flourished there, and was recognized as Best Tar Player at the Iranian Music Festival four years running (1995-1998). After graduating from Conservatory in 1997, she helped found the groundbreaking women’s music ensemble Chakaveh, and in 1999 she was invited to join the Iranian National Orchestra, thus beginning her career as an international performer. For the past decade, Sahba Motallebi has lived near Los Angeles, She continues to perform worldwide, and has released a series of noted books and recordings, the latest of which is 2014’s A Tear at the Crossroad of Time. Sahba is also recognized as an innovator in the teaching of Persian music; her pioneering efforts to put instructional materials on the internet and to teach students online have inspired something of a renaissance in the transmission of this ancient art form, and reflect her abiding commitment to bring the gift of music to her community and the world.

Naghmeh Farahmand, daughter of one of Iran’s leading percussionists, Mahmoud Farahmand, grew up surrounded by music in a full house of drums. She started playing the tonbak when she was six under the supervision of her father, and was encouraged to learn a melodic instrument to gain insight into the melodic aspect of music as this would make her a better accompanist. So she started playing the santur under the guidance of Faramarz Payvar and Pashang Kamkar. Besides learning traditional music, Naghmeh found the daf to be very powerful and spiritual and began learning Sufi and Kurdish rhythms from Bijan Kamkar and Masoud Habibi. She has performed in many well-known traditional ensembles in Iran and at festivals around the world, and was honored to perform with ney master Hassan Nahid and famed vocalist Hengameh Akhavan. In 2010, she moved to Canada and started working with musicians in world music and jazz. She is the founder of the Sharghi percussion ensemble.

FILMS - Curated by Noor Iranian Film Festival

Select, award winning short films from West coast’s Noor Film Festival featuring Iranian arts, crafts, cuisine, culture, geography, and history will be presented.

“No Land’s Song”, by Ayat Najafi

“The Role of Each Fret”, by Maryam Farahzadi

"No Land’s Song", by Ayat Najafi

The Islamic revolution of 1979 banned female singers from appearing in public in Iran. They are no longer allowed to perform solo, unless to an exclusively female audience. Recordings of former female icons can only be bought on the black market. But Sara Najafi is determined to refresh the cultural memory by roaming Tehran in the footsteps of famous singers of the 1920s and 1960s. She is about to revive the female voices in the present as she courageously plans an evening of Iranian and French female soloists to rebuild shattered cultural bridges—a concert that is not allowed to take place. For two-and-a-half years, director Ayat Najafi follows the preparations between Tehran and Paris that are always touch and go. What’s still possible? What goes too far? Sara’s regular meetings with the Ministry of Culture shed light on the system’s logic and arbitrariness, though officials there can only be heard and not seen. Can intercultural solidarity and the revolutionary power of music triumph? A political thriller and a musical journey, No Land’s Song never loses sight of its real center – the female voice. See trailer here.

"The Role of Each Fret", by Maryam Farahzadi

The union of a couple in love, by getting assistance from a joint effort of music and nature performed in Persian miniatures, from ancient land of Iran.

PANEL DISCUSSION

The festival will begin with a discussion featuring scholar Kathryn Spellman Poots, whose work has focused on the Iranian Diaspora and transnational migration networks, Mahyad Tousi, Co-founder of BoomGen Studios and producer on Reza Aslan’s recently premiered television show, “Believer”, Persian tar virtuoso, Sahba Motallebi, who will grace us with her presence again later in the evening, and Siamak Ghahremani, founder of Noor Iranian Film Festival. This panel will be moderated by Carla P. Cota, a PhD candidate at University of Arizona with a main research interest in the connection among culture, identity and education, especially as it relates to the education of second generation children in the US.

Panelists will discuss where Iranian American arts stand today, especially in light of the current administration’s ban of certain travelers from Iran and now 5 other Muslim-majority countries. Additionally, we will explore how artistic expression may help shift public sentiment toward a more just and equitable world, or society.

PERSIAN FUSION CUISINE - By Chef Patrick Connolly of Rider Restaurant

Critically acclaimed chef, Patrick Connolly, of Rider restaurant at National Sawdust, will be offering a Persian-inspired, fusion menu available for purchase during the festival’s dinner break. Be ready for an American twist on Persian cuisine filled with familiar saffron and turmeric hughes to reel you in.

Zahhak, The Legend of the Serpent King

A Persian folk tale from the Shahnahmeh or Book of Kings brought to life through live music, narration and shadow puppets by Hamid Rahmanian, the creator of the critically acclaimed masterpiece, “Feathers of Fire”.

This 15min exquisite performance will be followed by a shadow puppet-making workshop for kids.

Link to tickets below.

SPONSORSHIP OPPORTUNITIES

PERSIAN ARTS FESTIVAL PRESENTING SPONSOR – $5,000

Presenter of entire festival

Logo placement above Festival titling on ALL assets, including marketing flyers, posters, projections in venue, thanked by MC’s before each program segment, social media placement.